painted shell shape

[carmencmc]

We have had an eastern painted for about a year. Many of the pics I see of the shells are somewhat flat and rounded. Our little guys seemed more humped and the edges curl up slightly. Are we doing something to cause this or is it okay...

I have a pic I can email or something, not sure how to post it...

[Chez]

Welcome aboard, carmencmc. ;D
Sounds to me like you're feeding him too much protien-based foods, like Reptomin, or other commercial foods. That could be the cause of the your problem. It could also be a deformity. Egg-laying vs. live birth has it's pros and cons. And in this case, while more offspring are being produced, the chances of deformities or abnormalties is greater. There are a few things you can do. First, email a pic of your turtle and it's setup to me- [e-mail]. Then check out our Feeding Guide in the General Care section: www.gttreloaded.com/gencare.html for ideas of what kinds of food and how often to feed your turtle. I'll post your pics so everyone else can have their say. And if worse comes to worse, you may have to take a trip to the vet.
[glow=blue,2,300]:Chez[/glow]

[Chez]

Here's the pics you emailed to me.



I still think its from too much protein.
Whats everyone else think?
[glow=blue,2,300]:Chez[/glow]

[Jinx]

Definately to much protein......or wrong lighting as a hatchling.....but I am going with protein.

My Dipstick has that on the one side of his shell, he came to me like that. I cut back on pellets, but vet said it may have been improper lighting - no uvb or too little-which has caused this to happen, mainly in hatchlings and turtles under3yrs.

You wont be able to correct it though,that will be permanent, your goal now is to stop it from continuing.
What kind of diet is he on??

[carmencmc]

Well, there is anarcharis in the tank which we have seen him eating. Right now, he gets a rotation of cichlid, reptomin, shrimp, and meal worms. We have tried some veggies and fruits and he will have none of it- same with the reptomin and cichlid. He won't eat it and waits until the day he gets worms or shrimp. I think we created a monster when we first got him. Both of the turts we first got were sickly and not eating and the only thing he finally went after then was krill. I am not worried he will look this way always but I don't want us to harm him either. He is actually our 10 year old daughter's as we can't have hairy indoor pets due to allergies Since she is ten though it seems mom gets the brunt of the responsibility.

So any suggestions on how to get him to eat other things or some sort of schedule on how many a times veggies and fruits versus protein stuff... HELP

[carmencmc]

Another follow-up. Charlie's shell has been always been slightly curled and humped since we got him...

As for feeding him- I had tried carrots and stuff in the past with no luck- as stated before. Just now I put in some apple and he didn't want it at first and then I saw him take a few bites. Maybe now that he is a little older he will broaden his tastes a bit Just like my kids

Just in case it is the protein thing I have already set up a new feeding schedule with my daughter so he will get more veggies and fruits. We'll see how it goes... Thanks for the input! I scoured the old Gorda's site when we were getting the turtels. It was a huge help!

[Jinx]

Dont be surprised or sdiscourage though if he refuses....younger turts prefer meat/live.

I found colored fruit would be tried faster than anything else. I feed Dip a slice of strawberry and I suspect the red color drew him in to tast, he was mad at me for like a week, tricking him like that, but I do offer, just in case he does want it.

I also feed him pellets every other day and keep some feeders/snacks in there...snails, guppies, waterplants, filler food.

Good Luck

[carmencmc]

Thanks again for all of the tips and advice. We'll see how it goes from here